Rubio insists he isn't being played by Schumer

By Jennifer Epstein

06/16/13 10:38 AM EDT

Sen. Marco Rubio was dismissive Sunday of some conservatives' concerns that Democrats are taking advantage of him to help pass an immigration bill.

"Immigration reform is something that all Americans recognize has to be done," the Florida Republican said on ABC's "This Week," after being pressed on whether Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is "playing him," as commentator Ann Coulter has claimed.

"I don't focus a lot on public polling, but if you look at these public polls, it's clear the vast majority of Americans understand that what we have in place in this country is de facto amnesty, a broken legal immigration system that needs to be reformed," he said.

That came after Rubio had already offered an even more dismissive answer to host Jon Karl, who asked "Are you being played by the Democrats? Is Chuck Schumer playing you, is essentially the charge?"

Rubio's answer: "I don't -- I quite frankly, I don't even know what that means."

Rubio was also insistent that while some conservatives are opposed to the immigration bill, he agrees with them on "virtually every other issue."

He also said he didn't even listen to President Barack Obama's speech this week on immigration because he was "very busy." He read some headlines but is focused on his job to pass the legislation.

"That's what I hope we'll do out of the Senate, and then the House will have its work, and we'll work together to try to solve this problem. And then the president will have a decision to make about whether he wants to sign the bill or not," he said.